How to Love a Blue Demon (27 page)

“You need a cab,” Jordan laughed.

“Sick,” Dan insisted.

“He’s saying he’ll get car sick if he rides in this condition, but he’s too shitty to walk.” Niomi said, exasperated.

“Why don’t I take him to the restroom?” Eyoen suggested.
“Splash some water on his face.”

She shrugged. “Sure. See if you can get him to pee.
It might help.”

That was Eyoen’s plan exactly. He held his drunken acquaintance up easily and colle
cted a glass of water from Marvin on their way to the men’s room. Inside he held the liquored Dan up with one hand and held the glass of water to his lips with the other, and told him, “Piss.”

Eyes closed, Dan drank the water and fumbled with his pants. Eyoen finally had to use magic to get them open, then Dan was able to take over.
When the glass was empty Eyoen set it aside, pressed a spot in the middle of the back of his charge’s neck, and stood back while he peed himself sober for the next 90 seconds.

At the end of it he washed his hands, blinked sleepily and smiled, considerably steadier and more alert. Eyoen stood by while he drank another glass of water from the tap – he’d purified it with a thought – and
took the opportunity to pick the man’s brain for thoughts of Cass. He found nothing more than a vague fondness and a more voluble appreciation for her music.

T
hey’d known each other for a long time, but Dan’s thoughts were filled with Niomi and their inability to have a child. It was his fault, and he felt horrible guilt over it. Cass had mentioned it briefly in the cab on the way over lest he inadvertently say something to trigger sadness in the fraught couple. And he gleaned it was the main reason Dan had over imbibed tonight.

Eyoen knew he could help the man, but correcting a demon’s seed was serious business.
It was slightly less serious because it was a human, but it would take a considerable amount of energy, and he planted a little suggestion in Dan’s mind to come and visit him at the spa when it opened.

“You’ve got the touch, man,” his new friend
grinned, only slightly tipsy now as he washed his hands and face and tidied his appearance. When he’d finished he clapped Eyoen on the shoulder. “Thanks, eh? I’m going to have to come visit you at your spa when it opens.”

“Come to the opening.”

“Count on it. Niomi and I will look forward to it,” he said sincerely. “Shall we? I’m sure my wife’s telling everyone I’ve passed out in here on the floor like an idiot.”

Eyoen laughed.

Niomi was pleasantly surprised to see Dan looking so well, and she went into his arms happily as they said their goodbyes.

“Eyoen, when Cass told me how you’d helped her with massage, I was skeptical. But wh
at you can do in a bathroom in 10 minutes has convinced me that you are indeed a miracle worker,” she said as they stood out front.

“Where’s the doorman?” Dan wondered.

A man walked up. Eyoen stared at him curiously. He was dirty and he seemed to be holding something behind his back.

“Spare some change, mister?”

“Sorry, man. We’re on credit tonight,” Dan said.

“How about you?”

“He wants money, sire,” Rierdane said. “A vagrant.”

Eyoen pulled out his wallet and reached in to give the man a $20. But when the bum saw the wad
he was holding, he made a grab for the wallet, leading with a punch toward Eyoen’s head.

“Sire, watch out!” Rierdane shouted, but Eyoen had already seen
the fist and blocked the blow with one hand.

H
e still had the wallet in the other. He didn’t want it to hit the ground. He cared nothing for the money inside. He’d have given it to the man if he’d known all this drama was afoot, but it was one of Cass’ first gifts to him. Elegant distressed Black leather that she’d had monogrammed with a large masculine E after she grew tired of watching him pull out large, unruly wads of cash everywhere they went.

Blocking the wild punch and holding on to his wallet he
was unable to move quickly enough to block the stab when the bum pulled out the screwdriver he’d been holding behind his back. He saw it coming in plenty of time to brace though, automatically shoring his magical defenses so he would not inadvertently turn blue during the fight.

Niomi screamed a warning, and Dan rushed forwa
rd as though to help him, but Eyoen wasn’t worried. He could repel the weapon. There were few things that could penetrate demon skin. It was one of the reasons magical energy was so important. One had to get inside a friend or a foe to effect change of any kind. The most he would come away with was a scratch, something quickly healed that he would have to fake to fool the humans around him.

But something strange happened. Dimly Eyoen heard Dan cursing and Niomi crying
, but his vision seemed to have gotten awfully narrow, and there was a horrible burning in his side. He felt the wallet slip from his fingers, heard the bums’ feet pounding the concrete as he ran away.

As if in slow motion h
e looked down at his side.
How odd
, he thought. He had never seen his own blood before, this tinted red as befit his human disguise. It seemed to be pouring out of him at an alarming rate. He shuddered once, staggered, felt himself falling, and that was the last thing he remembered.

When he woke he smelled something familiar. The hospital. Panic surged. Was he trapped, immobile in another human body? Then his arms and legs twitched and a rash of pain bloomed in his belly. He was in his body, but what happened? Was he wounded?

He opened his eyes and took stock. Cass sat asleep in a chair by his bed. When he saw her he calmed even more, even grinning a little. This was how they’d first met
and first touched, her hand on his in just this same way. At least his magic seemed to be holding. His hand was still tan not royal blue.

“Sire,” Rierdane said, appearing in the doorway.

Eyoen frowned. Rierdane preferred to stay in his mind. It was strange to see him in flesh and blood, and he was walking, which was not his preferred method of transportation. He liked to teleport places to save time, appearing and reappearing in a vacuous, but beautiful shimmer like a human specter.

“Are you alright?”

Rierdane laughed. “That should be my line. I’m only walking because I’m surrounded by humans and cameras. I was in the cafeteria getting something to eat. I spent a lot of magic helping the human doctors to fix you. This place of healing is a hall of horrors! You should see the instruments they use to make well the sick. They are reasonably clean, but my stars. Needles! Can you imagine? I feared for your life more than once.”

“My belly hurts.” His tone said he was surprised. “Why do I have pain? Why am I in the hospital?”

“You were stabbed with a poisonous metal called steel. Apparently it’s quite a common weapon on this planet. The natives have been using them for centuries to great effect.”

“Poisonous?”

“Hmmm. No one knew. When your father came even he was surprised.”

“My father was here?” He had a vague recollection of the King standing over him, but he’d thoug
ht it a dream.

“Of course. He appeared the moment your blood began to flow, and took charge of the scene. I call
ed the ambulance. Niomi ran to get everyone from the hotel, and Dan applied pressure to your wound until the medics came. The King pumped his magic into you to start the healing and to keep your disguise from slipping. He’s sleeping at Cass’ home right now.”

“Sleeping?” Eyoen couldn’t keep he shock from his voice. He had never heard of or seen his father sleeping.

Rierdane nodded. “Yes. He spent a log of magic helping Dan keep you from bleeding out. This metal is quiet pernicious. A more clever weapon I have yet to see. If you touch it? Nothing. But if you use to penetrate the skin? Unbelievably dangerous.”

“I almost died.”

“Yes.”

Rierdane’s voice sounded
odd, as though he had reinforced it against strong emotion.

“Thank you, Rierdane. It seems I owe you and my father my life.”

His servant inclined his head. “Thank you, sire. Everyone did their part.”

Ignoring the pain of his stitches pulling as he gen
tly stroked Cass’ sleeping head, he mused. “Sadly, I did not get to eat the pretzel.”

“Ah! I was in the kitchen watching as it was prepared. It is a kind of bread. Apparently it comes in many forms and flavors. This one was
in what’s called a bun, and it housed a burger with all sorts of ingredients: onions, a different kind of bacon made from pigs, not turkeys, and a different kind of cheese. We shall go back there after you heal.”

“When can I leave?”

“I’m afraid you will be here for a few days.”

Eyoen had been looking at Cass sleeping but his eyes flew to his servants in shock.

“What?”

Rierdane nodded. “Yes. I don’t think you realize how serious the wound is. It will take far longer for your magic to heal you enough to leave. And that’s with the King funneling his own power into you.”

“That’s why he’s sleeping.”

“Yes. He is still healing you, but he’s conserving his energy in other ways.”

“I want to see him.”

Rierdane stepped forward and set his dinner down on the adjustable bed table.
“I understand sire, but we should let him rest.”

Eyoen looked shattered by this
. Rest? Why on earth would the King need rest? “By the stars why?”

“I cannot tell you, sire.”

“You will tell me what is going on, Rierdane.”

His servant shook his head and twisted his hands uncomfortably. “I want to, my prince, but I cannot. I am under orders from the King.”

Cass stirred and woke. She smiled when she saw his eyes were open. “Hey, baby. How do you feel?”

“Like shit,” he said irritably.

She laughed. “I believe you. I’ve never heard you swear before. Hey, Ree.”

Rierdane nodded and offered to go and get her something from the cafeteria. He ducked out before a narrow eyed Eyoen could order him to stay.

Cass kissed his cheek, and went to the sink to prepare a hot face towel. She was silent as she cleaned his face, neck and hands, washing carefully around his IV. She said nothing as she used the hospital provided comb to tidy his hair, and then attended to her own toilette.

He watched greedily, waiting.

“You want to tell me what happened?”

He blinked innocently. “I was accosted by a would be robber.”

“I know that. I mean, do you want to explain to me how my big, bad ass demon ended up stabbed in the gut with a common screwdriver?”

“
Well, I am in the Cyani guard, and I know how to fight, but I’ve only engaged in combat on the battlefield. I’m as confused as you are, my dear. I only just discovered that demons are allergic to steel.”

“That doesn’t make sense. There’s all sorts of metal in my house. You touch it all the time. The refrigerator, the washer, dryer, the faucets, sink, everything.”

“Yes, but I never had a piece of it inside my body.”

She sat quietly in her hair while she digested that. “O
kay. Then how were you able to stand the surgery, the needles, the IV?”

“
Most of the tools used in hospitals today are made of recyclable plastic. My father and servant took care of the rest. I’m not exactly sure of the details myself.”

She nodded. “That makes sense.
It also explains the huge man I caught in your room after they brought you to recovery. By the way, I had to tell them I was your fiancé for them to let me stay here with you.”

He grinned. “I don’t mind.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “How are you doing now? Really. Can you use magic to heal yourself?”

“I’m spent, my dear. It took all of my energy not to die,” he laughed, then winced as the movement pulled at his painful belly. “I must rely on my father and Rierdane to heal me until I can regain my strength.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Stay with me.”

“No, I mean something that I wasn’t going to do anyway. Something specific? Go get you a special tea or tonic or –”

“Your presence is special,” he told her. “Having your energy close by is like a tonic.”

It was true. He could feel the magical energy of his loved ones tingling in his wound, knitting his flesh and muscle back together one microscopic piece at a time. Cass had no overt magical skill, but her love for him was soothing.

S
he rubbed her arms uneasily. “Okay, but you tell me the instant you need or want anything, hear? I’ve spent more time in hospitals lately with you than I have ever,” she muttered, and he realized then that she did not care for hospitals.

“I’m sorry, my dear. I did
n’t realize you feared this environment.”